News to Live By - Fall 2004

Money Can’t Buy Health?

The U.S. spends much more on health care than other countries, but doesn’t have the world’s best health care system, writes Peter S. Hussey, a doctoral candidate in Health Policy and Management (HPM), in the May/June issue of Health Affairs.

Spanking Risks

White, non-Hispanic children who are spanked frequently are at risk for behavior problems, an association that doesn’t hold true for African-American or Hispanic children, according to a May Pediatrics article by Eric P. Slade, PhD, assistant professor, Health Policy and Management.

Vitamins for Life and Memory

Regular vitamin E and C supplements may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, reports Peter P. Zandi, PhD ’01, assistant professor, Mental Health, in the January issue of the Archives of Neurology.

Early Warning for Liver Cancer

A mutation in the hepatitis B virus may indicate that a person has an increased risk of getting hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer, according to a report in the March 9 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by John Groopman, MD, PhD, chair of Environmental Health Sciences.

Latin American Smoke

Secondhand smoke was found in 94 percent of 633 public places tested in Latin America, reports Ana Navas-Acien, MD, MPH, and an Epidemiology PhD student, in a June 9 article in JAMA.